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Go to Start of Better Skiing
6 OFF PISTE & EXTREME SKIING
SKI THE STEEP - JUMP TURNS
OFF PISTE IN THE SPRING
SKI THE STEEP IN POWDER
‘The British off-piste skier is a great enthusiast. For him skiing is a form of arduous training, and the pleasures of the hot chocolate,
the hot bath and the stiff gin are all the more intense for being well earned. Of course he likes skiing in soft powder snow but he takes
the rough with the smooth more philosophically than most, and would not dream of letting bad conditions interfere with this plans. ‘Often
you get your best skiing in a whiteout’, he will bark while doling out porridge at dawn.’
Adam Ruck - UK Sunday Telegraph 2002
POWDER SKIING TECHNIQUE
This is what it's all about - the White Stuff! No more weaving down the piste trying to avoid the crowds and the fat lady
in the lilac shell suit, because this is freedom man, this is the ultimate. That's roughly how it was explained to me the first time I was
encouraged to go off into the fresh powder snow. It was exhilarating, demanding, and quite unlike anything I had been used to.
Before you go off piste into the powder, you must answer this question: Are you prepared to become a complete beginner
again? Yes? Well, read on. You may get the hang of it within the hour. It may take you a little longer, but as long as you read this next
section carefully and slowly, and act on it, you will be able to ski the powder. Before going out and trying it, I strongly recommend
that you read the section on Avalanches (p48). This is not to put you off, but rather to give you an idea of what is safe to ski and
what is not.
To succeed in deep snow you must ski gently, and you must feel what you are doing. You have to be spot on with your
balance, because the snow is always trying to snag the outside edges of the skis wherever you try to turn them. You seem to be stuck in tram
lines, and then if you do manage to somehow turn, the tips of the skis sink down, stop dead, and throw you out of the window.
I’m going to be sexist here or whatever the word is. Girls seem to get the hang of deep snow quicker than boys. I think
the reason for this is that they are much more gentle with the stuff and this is one of the secrets to skiing powder. Go lightly and
treat the snow with the same respect you would give to the spider you are gently fingering out of the bath tub.
Skiing in deep snow is just about the only situation where I would recommend shorter, softer tipped skis than you may be
using. This is where a pair of the wide modern skis should come in useful, perhaps 15 cm (6 inches) shorter than your usual ones, but try
your normal ones first.
Now for business. The following introductory exercises are quite important, and should not be skipped.
1) Find a slope of fresh untouched snow, steep enough to run down at a steady pace. (Don't worry too much about the
people coming past you with beards, shouting at you to stop spoiling their special bit of angel poop.) With your weight slightly back and
equal on both skis, carefully bounce up and down. The skis should be about 4" apart. It should feel as if you are bouncing up and down
on a trampoline, as the snow compacts on your down movement. This trampolining effect is what makes powder skiing such magic. The snow needs
to be at least knee deep, otherwise you won't get the bouncing effect.
Let me just repeat where your weight should be while learning deep snow technique. It should be slightly back from
the middle of the foot, that is towards the heel. I do not think it a good idea to encourage you to sit well back on the heels of your skis
while trying to ski the deep stuff. Your skis are more liable to accelerate, and you will not be able to anticipate the next turn properly,
so forget about leaning back! As you begin to get the hang of powder skiing your weight should move forwards to the middle of your
feet.
2) Repeat this exercise, but this time do alternate left and right pole plants as you go down. Feel that your balance is
right. The distance that your body goes up and down is important. As you go down to put your pole in, your head should be almost level with
your hand! That's a long way down. Remember the driving analogy while doing this; keep both hands rigidly in front of you and face down the
hill.
3) The next stage is to turn, so find a slope that's a little steeper. You will need a steeper slope than a groomed piste
of the same gradient, as deep snow slows you down. Stand at the top and try to memorise the rhythm of the exercise you have just done.
Repeat it standing still. Down, left pole in, up. Down, right pole in, up. Left pole, right pole, left pole, right pole. Remember that your
body must face downhill all the time, your weight must be equal on both skis and slightly back towards your heels, and that the skis
must remain flat on the snow. Right, off you go. Let's say you are starting with a right turn. Weight on both skis. Go all the way down to
put the right pole in. Come right up, and as you come up, jump the skis across the fall line. (Keep the skis flat in the snow.) Now,
with the same rhythm, start to go down immediately for the next turn, put the pole in, and jump up and around with the skis. Keep your body
facing down the hill, keep the skis flat, keep the rhythm going (count to yourself), and go riiiiight dowwwn each time. (I haven’t said it
yet but you will be unweighting the skis with the ‘down slow and up quick’ method while you are learning. This will eventually progress with
linked turns to the ‘down quick and up quick mode’)
After about seven turns you may well be knackered, trying to keep perfect balance, working your knees, hips, stomach, and
arms, and coupling all this with unbelievable concentration. Take a break and breathe in the rare mountain air, and listen to the silence,
and think how lucky you are not to be sitting in the bank manager's office.
You will find that you get tired quite quickly because your muscles are working overtime to compensate for the difficulty
of keeping your balance. It is therefore very important to think 'Balance', to think 'Rhythm', to think 'Gently'. When you are doing more
headplants than turns, give it a break until you have recovered. It is a good idea to try a bit of deep snow close to the piste initially,
so that you can get back on the piste and boost your deflated ego for a while. Don't do it for too long; get back into the angel poop before
someone else pinches it all.
Let’s just summarise the important points for learning to ski the powder:
Keep your weight equally balanced on both skis (a few inches apart)
Go right down to plant the pole
Keep your upper body facing downhill all the time
Keep a rhythm going ie: short linked turns (like window wipers)
Be gentle
SKI EXTREME - JUMP TURNS
Now that you have mastered the powder, nothing can damage your ego, so let’s get down to some really macho stuff. How
many times have you looked up at that couloir and said, 'Wish I could do that'? Conversely, how many times have you looked up at that
couloir and said, 'Gosh. That scares the pants off me. Let's go for some lunch'. Well, if you have reached this point in the book without
putting yourself into intensive care, you are ready to ski the steep.
Make sure the conditions are right. Generally the steepest slopes are off piste and can really only be skied successfully
when the snow has melted and frozen a few times to form a firm smooth surface. The best time for this is early Spring. Choose a sunny day
and check the weather forecast, the avalanche factor, and your insurance.
The time to attack the steep late in the season is early in the morning just after the top layer of snow has been
softened by the sun, but not so much as to make it rotten and prone to avalanche. At first choose a wide open slope and not a couloir. This
at least gives you the option of traversing out if necessary. It should be way off track, away from the distractions of all those sad piste
bashers. Preferably choose a smooth slope with no rocks or trees of other miscellaneous obstacles such as chamois or marmots.
The gradient needs to be more than 45 degrees to be considered steep, and from 55 to 70 degrees to be extreme. Don't try
anything more than 55 degrees to start with. The slope should be concave with a nice gentle outrun. This will mean that if you do fall there
is nothing to hit on the way down, and you will come to a nice gradual stop with nothing more than a bruised ego.
One of the golden rules of the mountains is never travel alone off piste, so you have to take a friend. I say 'have to'
as though a friend may be an encumbrance. However, you may have gone up the mountain with the intention of having a secluded picnic among
the pine trees with your best friend anyway. This bit of steep you have come across is a mere bagatelle.
To get you into the mood take a few deep breaths and admire the view. 'Oh look. Isn't that the Matterhorn over there?
Let's do that after this. Oh look. There's the North Face of the Eiger. Let's do that after lunch'.
So, you have taken a few deep breaths to relax, smeared a liberal smearing of factor 90 all over exposed parts, and are
now carefully traversing and side slipping into your chosen starting point. Stop. Look. Imagine the line you are going to take which should
be as close to the fall line as possible. You are going to go as slowly as possible doing linked braking turns. You are going to start each
turn with a perpendicular pole plant about 18" (yes, 18") down from the front of your lower ski boot. This will ensure that you get your
weight well down the hill. As a general rule, the steeper the slope, the further down you should make your pole plant. This means simply
that your weight is always ahead of your skis. You can imagine that if you planted the pole next to your boot, the skis would have more
chance of sliding away from you as you brought them round. Your weight would then be uphill and behind your skis.
You are now standing with your skis at right angles to the fall line. They have created their own little ledges. To
maintain complete control at the end of every turn, the skis will finish up in this position for an instant before the start of the next
turn. Remember learning the short linked turns way back?. On a gentle slope the edge sets would have made a pattern on the snow something
like this:
On a steep slope they will have to make a pattern more like this:
This pattern will minimize any forward slide of the skis into a traverse and will brake them. In fact you will be side
slipping into the edge set, so that the side slip and the edge set combined should look more like this:
Back to the nitty gritty. You must now angulate down over your lower boot, and make the pole plant like you would in the
bumps, except that it is perhaps 18" down from your boot. To get the skis around you are making a slow down and quick up unweighting. As
they pass the fall line your weight will start to come down over the lower ski, and you will angulate down again to make the next pole
plant. Although this will need quite an effort, it must be done as smoothly as possible.
Concentrate on keeping the skis in contact with the snow, and minimize the jump around. This will encourage a smoother
braking as you start to go down for the next pole plant. Try to link five or six of these turns before stopping for a rest. Make sure the
skis are braking at 90 degrees against the fall line to minimize any forward traverse. This will ensure you are moving down the mountain in
a narrow corridor not much wider than the length of your skis. You will realise that your upper body is always facing down the mountain
during these turns, and will help the skis to rotate a little.
When you feel confident enough you can then try that narrow couloir running under the cable car. For that particular
couloir there is no need to take a friend as someone in the cable car is bound to call for the ski patrol.
There are a few important points to remember
Chose a slope free from rocks which would otherwise have to be avoided.
The best stuff to learn on is spring snow that has not had too much sun on it.
If you’re some way off piste make sure you are not alone.
OFF PISTE IN THE SPRING
As the season progresses into early spring the snow conditions undergo an interesting change. Snow that was cold and
powdery and crystalline because the daytime temperature stayed below zero, now turns into what most people call slush or sugar. During the
daytime the sun raises the ground temperature where its rays hit the mountain, and the snow crystals break down into nothing more than
blobs. This starts at lower altitudes, but as time marches on so it moves to the higher ground and eventually on to the glaciers. What
interests the better skier is the quality of this stuff if caught at the right time.
Spring snow is not as exciting as powder snow, but it is wonderfully flattering. The night time temperatures continue to
drop below zero, so by morning the snow is frozen solid. Given an hour or two of warm sunshine, and the top layer, perhaps an inch or so,
thaws out and turns a mountainside into one naturally made prepared piste. There are no icy patches, no bumps, and no other man made
obstacles. It is a very flattering surface to ski on.
High up on the glaciers the transition also takes place. Fresh snow that has fallen earlier in the year and concealed
crevasse openings, now thaws and freezes many times to form solid bridges over what would otherwise be lethal man traps. This means that the
glaciers can be skied early on in the day in comparative safety.
So if you decide to take a late holiday and find most of the snow in your resort base gone, pack a picnic and go ski some
glaciers or anywhere else in the white blue yonder. I usually use the lift system to get as much height as possible and tend to start with
the first lifts of the day.
Find out about the safety of the area before you go, and if necessary, take a large scale map. On no account must you
or your party ever attempt glacier skiing on your own without a guide unless you have thoroughly checked the state of the area or the lie of
the land with qualified local knowledge. If you are in any doubt hire a guide who is familiar with the terrain. It will cost you money,
but weighed against the possibility of an expensive rescue operation should you fall down a crevasse, or even death, a guide wins hands
down.
Most ski shops will rent you a pair of skins and some randonee bindings. The skins unroll and stick to the bottom of your
skis. They are man made and are like bristles that will only let the skis go forward so you can walk up hills without sliding backwards. The
bindings attach to the ones already on your skis, and allow your heel to come up. Once you are at the top and ready to push off they go back
into your rucksack. Never try to ski down with the skins on. They can ruin a good descent!
There is not a great deal of technique to be dealt with. You should keep a wary eye out for the lie of the land, as it is
still quite easy to end up in a cul de sac even with the aid of a large scale mountain map. Make sure the weather is clear and sunny with a
good forecast; if the weather should close in you will be on your own. Be extra observant with looking ahead, and make sure there is nothing
on the slope ahead that could be a danger. Some of the terrain will be steep, and some will be easy. Because the snow surface is so
forgiving you will find it the nicest stuff you have ever skied on. So much for the difficulties of off piste!
Incidentally, sugar snow is the fastest stuff to ski on; it is thought that every blob existing in its half melted state
has a layer of water surrounding it which is more slippery than snow at or below freezing. This is excellent news for speed skiers who break
most of the speed records on this type of snow.
It will take a little time to judge whether the conditions are going to be suitable, so check it what I have to say about
snow types (p?)
SKI EXTREME IN POWDER
You will only be able to ski powder on a slope up to about 50 degrees. Any steeper than this and the snow will tend to
avalanche in even the most stable conditions, and then it becomes a matter of coming down on whatever base there is underneath. If you throw
caution to the wind you could of course come down in the avalanche itself. As a general rule restrict the steep and deep to slopes with
plenty of trees dotted around. This tends to reduce the chance of an avalanche. Trees have the added advantage of providing yet another
challenge - how to get round them.
Powder on the steep is best when it is thigh to waist deep; it is more exciting, and also has a tendency to slow you
down, which is no bad thing. The braking effect of the snow against your skis, legs, and thighs, or even waist, means that you don't have to
come round against the fall line so much with the jump turns, and the braking movement down on the skis can be more gentle.
You will need to spread your weight more between the two skis, and it may take a little time to work a compromise between
weighting the lower ski only, to weighting both skis equally. You will be looking for a compromise between easy powder skiing technique, and
the slightly more aggressive technique needed for a firm steep slope.
The bouncing you do, and the depth into the snow you drop while you are bouncing will help to brake you. It will
also determine the amount of snow that cascades up into your face and over your shoulders. Wear goggles. You'll need them. Unless you are an
ace swimmer, and can get your breathing synchronised with your bouncing, keep your mouth shut, except of course to whoop with sheer joy at
the fun of it all.
Quite a few people lose a ski in the deep powder. If the avalanche risk is low, it is not a bad idea to have some kind of
cord fastening going round your ankle and attached to the ski. Alternatively I have often managed to keep my skis attached by diving head
first down the slope when I was about to fall! It takes a bit of time to clear the snow out of exposed orifices, but it saves digging around
in angel poop up to your neck, searching for a ski that has probably moled its way into the next valley.
It is also important when skiing off piste in any condition to wear or carry some kind of reflector or transmitter that
will help any rescuers dig you out, should you be buried in an avalanche. On that glum note, shall we proceed?
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GLOSSARY
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CHAPTER 7
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